Bernadette is a friend to have in this place. She’s a lovely, smart, warm and totally inspiring woman.

I follow a lot of bloggers and interact with most of them as often as I can, but in this blogging journey, there are some people who you connect with and you see the beauty of their soul shine through their work. I read Bernadette’s posts every week and I never leave empty handed.

Her thoughts are enriching and uplifting. She’s supportive of her blog friends and to take it further, she and I (with other volunteers) are starting off ‘Writers Quote Series,’ this November.

Bernadette is a friend to have if you are not following her already. Please check out Haddon’s Musings, join the 52 weeks of thankfulness series or the senior salon 🙂

Thank you, my lady, for granting this interview. I appreciate you and wish you all the best in getting that publication done.

Hello, my name is Bernadette and I blog at www.HaddonMusings.com. Jacqueline has very kindly invited me for this interview.

My entire marriage my husband has told me I was a writer and encouraged me to sit down and take out the pen and put it to paper. I always demurred and explained to him and there are readers and there are writers and being an avid reader does not make a person a writer. But then about four years ago during my morning walk, I started to feel a need to express my appreciation for all the beauty my small village holds.

So I started to write about Haddonfield and its citizens. Hence the name HaddonMusings. Surprisingly, I became confident in my writing and was fascinated by the fact that anyone would possibly be interested in my scribbles. As I started to meet these fascinating bloggers from all over the world, my blog became wider in scope.

One of the outcomes of meeting so many people was I became curious about how many bloggers were of my generation. I wanted to see and read about their creative journey during the aging process. So, I actively sought out people over the age of 50 and formed a regular column called the Senior Salon.

At the Salon, I have been able to form a warm community of people who are doing many different and fascinatingly creative things during these bonus years. It has been my great pleasure to watch them interact with each other and form new relationships.

Three years ago my granddaughter was born and this led to a rekindling of my feminist ideals. I want her to know about the true strength of being a feminist. I want her to know that a woman can be whatever she wants and she doesn’t have to be strident or dislike men in order to do that. So, I started writing my regular feature called Feminist Friday. I have really enjoyed doing the research for these columns and I have been gratified by the number of woman of every age from all over the world that have supported this project.

This year I started writing another regular feature called 52 Weeks of Thankfulness. I am writing this in response to all the negativity and acrimony that I am encountering on a daily basis in my country. My hope is by refocusing attention to the good in the world, I can help eradicate the rampant negativity.

Jacqueline asks how I keep myself motivated. My motivation comes from reading so many other fabulous blogs and wondering if I can, as a writer, achieve the same quality of writing.

My Muse – Haddonfield

Jacqueline wanted me to share my most challenging moment during this blogging journey. I know that my biggest challenges when I started blogging was learning the etiquette of blogging. I had two very nasty encounters with long-time bloggers’ due to the fact that I didn’t understand the etiquette of this format. If you are just starting out, I would strongly suggest learning those rules quickly.

And yes, Jacqueline, I would very much encourage others to blog. Circling back to the Senior Salon, I think that blogging is a splendid creative outlet and as we age it become more and more important to find new creative enterprises in which to participate. Creativity is important for the mind and the spirit.

Jacqueline asks what is my next goal in blogging and I would say that I have a great desire to publish an online journal featuring the work of my peer group. From the research that I have done so far, the last time a journal featuring the creativity of the senior population was printed was back in the late 1960’s. It seems to me that such a publication is long overdue for resurrection.

Thank you, Jacqueline, for this opportunity.

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